In this Issue

As the company completes its 50th year in business and the country awaits a period of change in health care unlike anything seen in at least that time, CVS Caremark executives are quite confident that its unique hybrid structure and its ability to leverage the three core parts of its business — either individually or together, in varying combinations to serve a multitude of needs — aligns more effectively with the long-term trends in health care and puts the company in a unique position at a singular moment in history.

WALTHAM, Mass. — Amazon is on a course trajectory that will see the online juggernaut command 30% of all online sales by 2016, according to a RetailNet Group projection shared by Keith Anderson, VP digital strategy, during a recent webcast on GMDC Connect, powered by Telepresence.

As part of a session titled “Amazon in Focus,” Anderson provided a comprehensive understanding of Amazon’s complex business model in one hour.

Earlier this year, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the research wing of the healthcare industry analysis firm IMS Health, dropped a bombshell when it showed that U.S. spending on drugs fell in 2012, the first time that had happened in 55 years. But according to IMS’ latest figures, it was not the start of a trend.

Overall, sales of intimacy health products are down slightly. Sales of condoms are down 2.1% to $382.6 million, according to IRI for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 6 across total U.S. multi-outlets. Personal lubricant sales were similarly down — falling 5.3% to $207.5 million. Only sales of personal massagers were up 5.6%, but on a relatively tiny base of $25.7 million.

The highly saturated and competitive hair care category has experienced only modest increases in recent years, but industry observers predict the category will grow double-digits through 2017, thanks in large part to niche items and products that target emerging segments.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

Consumers never tire of candy. Euromonitor data indicates that U.S. dollar sales for chocolate increased 19% between 2007 and 2012, and non-chocolate sales were up 17%. Euromonitor and the National Confectioners Association expect solid growth in the next five years, with the category “adding more than $6 billion in sales between 2013 and 2018.”

CINCINNATI — Foundations are increasingly infusing such skin care benefits as anti-aging ingredients and SPF protection, as evidenced by Procter & Gamble’s CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation.

It’s called medication synchronization, and the concept is simple enough — shifting patients to a synchronized, easy-to-comply-with, once-a-month prescription refill program so they can pick up all their medications with one visit to the pharmacy each month, instead of multiple trips.